Landgren, Erik

Landström, Emelie

Abstract [en]

A number of corporate scandals have characterized the beginning of the 21st century, including the company Enron in which the shareholders lost large amounts of money through the accounts had been manipulated for several years. In Gothenburg officials made private purchases, which the municipality payed for the invoices. These events have led to the concept of internal control being more important today, to prevent scandals like these. Internal control is an integrated process within the organization that aims to ensure that the goals adopted by the council are metThe study aims to increase the understanding of institutional structures that affect the process of internal control in public organizations, by describing the work with internal control, identify institutional mechanisms in municipal organization and establish an analytical model for the essay. This essay is based on a deductive approach in which existing theories are used to understand a specific event. Moreover, an operator approach is used in the study, which aims to create an understanding of the processes and relationships that constructs reality. The study is based on a case study on a smaller Swedish municipality in Norrbotten, where 14 interviews were conducted. The final result shows that there is currently no uniform internal control within the organization and no clear understanding of internal control implications. In some parts of the organization they worked on the basis of unconscious structures that can be linked to internal control. The staff that previously worked in the private sector had a greater understanding of internal control and it’s purpose. Administrations which mainly were governed by laws and regulations, where those who worked more with internal control, even if it were unconsciously.